Congressman Lamborn and Bentley Rayburn embroiled in spirited debate

A figurative slugfest broke out between Republicans Rep. Doug Lamborn and retired General Bentley Rayburn in a debate at Centennial Hall, the Board of County Commissioners’ hearing room Monday evening.

Put on by The Gazette, The Independent and the Colorado Springs Business Journal, the debate over Colorado’s 5th Congressional District spanned topics such as conservative voting records, Obamacare, personhood, the military, the crisis in Iraq and the recent Veterans Affairs scandal. Just eight days before the June 24 primary, neither Rayburn nor Lamborn minced their words.

Rayburn opened by calling out a mailer distributed by the Lamborn campaign which states — according to Rayburn — that the retired Air Force general will not fight for the troops.

“You know, coming from a person who’s never served a day in uniform, I find that very offensive,” Rayburn said. “You ought to be insulted as well as his constituents, to think that you’re idiots enough to believe this. I fundamentally think that this is disgraceful.”

Bentley Rayburn

Lamborn retorted by noting that Rayburn has no conservative voting record to speak of and doesn’t understand politics.

“You’re going to hear about his poor judgment on vital issues such as not fully funding the military,” Lamborn said. “And you’re going to hear about his atrocious lack of understanding of basic federal issues. I didn’t start this fight but I’m certainly going to end it.”

“This fight” dates back to 2006 when Lamborn and Rayburn first squared off in a six-man primary after Congressman Joel Hefley retired. Lamborn won and Rayburn took third. Lamborn beat Rayburn again in 2008 and now Rayburn is challenging Lamborn for a third time.

Rep. Doug Lamborn

Monday night, Rayburn said that Republican congressmen go to Washington and forget that they are working for the people.

While Lamborn pointed to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s soft stance on amnesty for illegal immigrants as a reason for his loss to tea party-backed David Brat in Virginia, Rayburn said Cantor had forgotten his mission and pointed to an endorsement both he and Brat share.

“Congressman Cantor did get beaten by Mr. Brat and the reason he did is because he went to Congress, became entrenched, and forgot that he was there to do the people’s business,” Rayburn said. “The Guns Owners of America, for example, endorsed Mr. Brat because they saw in him, even though he was so far behind in the polls, they saw in him leadership. And that’s quite frankly why they have endorsed us in the same kind of situation.”

Democrat Irv Halter

Democrat Irv Halter, who hopes to produce the district’s first Democratic victory in more than 20 years, weighed in on Monday night’s debate calling it “a great example of why many are turned off by extreme party politics.”

“I was in the Air Force for 32 years, and I was a Republican even longer,” Halter said in a release. “Tonight’s debate was a great example of why many are turned off by extreme party politics — both Doug Lamborn and Bentley Rayburn spent much of the night squabbling about which one of them is the most out of the mainstream. It’s exactly the sort of extreme partisanship that is tearing this country apart.”

Irv Halter, extremist leftwing democrat who wants to continue the policies, lies and deception from DC that are destroying our economy and destroying opportunity and the only comment he has is to regurgitate the extremist and divisive party line advocated by democrats. Both parties stink, and Detroit shows exactly where they are taking us.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.